


Broadway, here I come

by LobbyLane



Category: The Producers (2005)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:08:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25600354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LobbyLane/pseuds/LobbyLane
Summary: Leo's made a decision... But can he stick through?The producers (c) Mel Brooks
Kudos: 6





	Broadway, here I come

He looked down on the city.

It wasn’t true that the noise was gone up here. Not at all. It seemed the night wind carried all of the chatters of the people down there, all the traffic sounds and all the humming a city as big as New York usually produced up here. In a huge bubble of everything he knew. Everything he feared. Everything he loved and hated alike. 

The night sky above him reminded him once more how very small he was compared to this world. How little time he had spent among all these people until now. 

He lifted his head up. 

Through his blurry view he could see the stars. How rare… He couldn’t recall ever seeing them consciously, but there was at least one or two of them sparkling a small light of encouragement through the orange glimmer of the city lights below. 

Leo took a deep breath. 

And slowly, very slowly, he stepped closer to the ledge of the building. One step after the other. It felt like walking an eternity before he could clearly see the neon lights from the street down below. And the million illuminated windows of the buildings around him. He could see the headlights of the many cars still driving through the streets and the traffic lights always changing from red to green in a quite moderate pattern. 

He often came up here during lunch breaks or after his shifts. Being so close to the sky and yet so far away from the world usually made him feel more calm than elsewhere. And this time was no exception. It was a familiar sight. Something he'd seen a million times before. And yet it was so much different today. 

Leo noticed his body starting to tremble with every step closer to the abyss. His lips were shaking and he could hardly make out the silhouettes of the huge buildings around him through the tears in his eyes. 

This was crazy.

For once he didn’t feel scared. Or nervous. Or sad. 

For once he felt nothing. And it was comforting in a way he’d never thought it would be. 

He put his hands on the balustrade of the rooftop and shifted his head only a few inches to see the street down below. 

Broadway was still so busy; even this late. The billboards were shining brightly back at him and he could hear the cheerful laughter of people outside of the theatres. They stood there closely crowded together, laughing, chatting and having a good time. Leo liked to imagine what mind of wonderful evening they must have right now. Something they’d tell about in years to come. Something they wouldn't forget and which would forever paint a smile on their faces when they remembered it. 

It made him smile slightly and he wiped over his face up with his hand once.   
He knew these feelings. Oh, how much he loved it. How many times had he been down there, just consuming this very special atmosphere this place emanated. And how much this had made him forget everything. His life. His constant worries. His loneliness… If only someone could understand how much he'd always wanted to be part of this. 

Leo opened his eyes again and felt his tears running down his face in hot streams through the fresh air. The wind was playfully blowing through his hair as he continued to stare down. He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice how strained he was. His hands had turned to shivering fists by now and slowly his knuckles turned white, but he didn’t notice that either. 

And then he slowly lifted his leg until his foot touched the small wall like balustrade that separated him from that street he loved more than anything. Nothing in the world could have made him remember what he thought that moment. It was as though someone else acted through him more than his own will and yet he felt excited. In a strange, unknown way. 

This was gonna be his regards. His moment to shine. His one chance to make all of this right again. 

With one controlled push he lifted his whole body up on that balustrade and now kneeled there. Funny, how much the pressure suddenly increased. 

He was still holding on to the cold stone. His eyes were still focused on that ocean of colorful lights below him and he could feel the strange pull gravity liked to play with whenever the boundaries between your body and a free fall vanished. It was almost like a call. He closed his eyes and could almost hear the wind whispering his name. It sounded soft and soothing. And he knew this was where he belonged. 

So slowly he let go of the wall and lifted his body towards the night sky, which suddenly didn’t appear as dark and threatening anymore. 

Leo closed his eyes once more and felt his mouth turning into a wide smile, even though tears were still running down his cheeks. But they changed somehow. He felt happy in a way he’d never felt before. He wanted to feel this moment. Every little bit of it. He stretched out his arms wide and enjoyed the sounds, the wind and his very own little moment right here. And he was certain he’d never felt something as wonderful. Even though he feared it. Deeply. This fear almost consumed his whole being and his whole body was shivering now. But it would be the step he'd been missing his entire life. That one solution he had never dared to think about. And it was so simple. It always had been so simple in a way…

Leo opened his eyes again and his eyes slowly wandered to that street again.   
People down there were pointing. At him… 

For once they’d noticed him. For once they’d recognized that he, Leopold Bloom, was alive and wandering amongst them. And for once they wouldn’t forget him. Nevermore. He would make sure they wouldn’t. 

Their voices increased. 

Leo liked to imagine this was what a mass cheering sounded like. And it felt wonderful. 

They’d be the first to see what he could do. They’d see him lift off and fly. They’d see him dancing through the sky and they’d witness him becoming one with Broadway. Like he had always dreamed of. And nobody would laugh at him. Nobody would tell him he didn’t belong there. Nobody would doubt this was right for him. Hell, nobody could do anything against it. 

Just one more step and he'd do it. He would be able to fall. He would be able to spread his wings and fly away from a life he hated. Away from a person he didn’t want to be. And it would take him just one second and he'd be part of something bigger forever. And nobody would ever forget…

He should be smiling. He should be happy and excited. He had every single card here and all he had to do was putting them to the table. 

But he still stared at them. He wondered how this would feel. If he would feel the gravity. Or if he’d go numb on the way down. If it would hurt. Or maybe everything would just turn black and he could remember this wonderful free moment forever. Or would this feeling go away halfway down? Would that fear regain its power over him again then when there was no way back? Would he probably hurt someone else down there, even though he didn’t know anyone and, being honest, didn’t care? 

His chest started to tremble now more and more as his crying grew stronger. And now for the first time he was able to hear his own voice, sobbing through the night air. And all of a sudden he felt heavier than ever before. As if something was ripping him apart. The gravity pulling on him while something did everything in its power to hold him back. And his chest hurt. So much…. So incredibly much….

His eyes grew wider all of a sudden. 

Leo gasped. 

What the hell was he doing?

And the good feeling was gone…Just as though someone had slapped him awake in the roughest possible way. 

He shivered. He was cold. So incredibly cold. And with huge, unbelieving eyes he stared down there. 

This wouldn’t change him. Nothing could. He would still be Leo Bloom… a nobody. A stranger to everyone screaming down there. Everything would remain exactly the way it had always been. Dark. Meaningless. And unfair. 

With shivering feet he sank to his knees again slowly. He was almost panicking as he grabbed the balustrade again and held on to it as tightly as he could. 

Be careful. 

One wrong step and he would lose his balance. He would fall… He could not fly. He was not able to give this place his regards. He wasn’t even able to melt into the beautiful night sky… which now was just a dark gray curtain hanging like a wave of doom over him. 

Leo shoved his foot a little to the left until he could feel the edge of the wall. Slowly he let it down until he could feel the strong ground of that rooftop again. His legs were still shivering. But once he had a firm grip on the ground again, he dared to lift his other foot slowly and took it off that wall as well. 

Standing there, shocked more than ever before, he sank down to the ground. Crying more than before.   
This was useless. He was useless. He couldn’t even do this…

He sat there for what seemed an eternity to him. He could still hear the voices below him, but didn’t pay any attention to them anymore. 

And almost automatically his hand wandered to the inside of his pocket. 

He took out his wallet and opened it without hesitation. Among all the nice and neat cards and sorted things in it, he pulled out a little inconspicuous looking piece of paper. His wallet fell of his lap and he grabbed this little scrap with both hands.

He sniffed once or twice and tried his best to blink those tears away until he could at least read the tiny writing on it clearly again:

Bialyhoos of ‘42

This had been his dream. This had been what had made him happy. This was the last remains of a long buried dream. 

And he remembered the papers on his desk that morning. 

He remembered the clients name. And he remembered that for once the monotony of this job was broken by something close to excitement inside of him when Mr. Marks had screamed his name through the room, telling him that this was his job the next day…

Maybe this was the one thing he needed to do still… 

That one final task…

Before he could learn to fly…

So, he slowly got up and tried to steady himself… 

If this was the last thing to do so be it…

One more accounting job wouldn’t change his mind. It wouldn’t change anything…

The end


End file.
